Cenozoic

Cretaceous

Jurassic

Triassic

Permian

Carboniferous

Devonian

Early Paleozoic

Select Region(s) to search
Hold Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or Command (Mac) to select multiple

Mae Tha Formation

Mae Tha Fm

Period:

Carboniferous

Age Interval:

Carboniferous (provisional assignment) (8)

Province:
NW Thailand – Inthanon Zone

Type Locality and Naming

NW Thailand, north of Mae Ping Fault. Type area: along the Chiang Mai – Lampang Highway (Route 11) near Mae Tha, west of the Mae Tha River in Lamphun Province.

Synonym: กลุ่มหินแม่ทา ; Mae Tha Gr

[Figure: Distribution of Carboniferous and Permian strata in Northern Thailand. Data mainly based on 1:1 million scale geological map of Thailand (DMR 1999) with minor modiﬁcations (Ueno K. & Charoentitirat T., 2011, page 75.)]

Lithology and Thickness

Quartzite, siliceous shale, quartzitic sandstone, feldspathic sandstone, kaolinitic shale; andesite, rhyolite, tuff, breccias, pyroclastic chert and green shale, agglomerate, conglomerate, sandstone, slate and light grey to pinkish-grey, massive to well bedded, re-crystallized limestone. The Mae Tha Formation in the type area is strongly folded and faulted, and its exact stratigraphic relations are difficult to establish.

Lithology Pattern:

Clayey sandstone

Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Upper contact

Possibly the next younger unit is a Middle Permian limestone; although "neither a detailed stratigraphic succession from the Mae Tha Formation up to this limestone nor concrete biochronological information on this limestone have yet been documented." (Ueno & Charoentitrat, 2011).

Regional extent

Northern Region: Chiang Mai and Lamphun provinces.

GeoJSON

{"type":"Feature","geometry":{"type":"MultiPolygon","coordinates":[[[[97.96,19.69],[97.97,17.95],[98.27,17.43],[98.13,17.55],[97.93,17.74],[97.74,17.9],[97.64,18.03],[97.46,18.33],[97.32,18.7],[97.46,18.93],[97.49,19.28],[97.66,19.59],[97.85,19.77],[97.96,19.69]]]]}}

Fossils

Age

Late Carboniferous (provisional assignment). Relative ages for Mae Tha Fm, Fang Red-beds Fm and Doi Kong Mu Fm are arbitrary, because contacts are not known; and these may be coeval facies variations to some extent.

Age Span:

Beginning stage:

Kasimovian

Fraction up in beginning stage:

0.0

Beginning date (Ma):

306.65

Ending stage:

Asselian

Fraction up in the ending stage:

0.0

Ending date (Ma):

298.88

Depositional setting

Shallow shelf. "The formation is considered to have been deposited in a shallow-marine (probably paralic) environment based on its lithology, although detailed strati- graphical and paleontological investigations are required." (Ueno & Charoentitrat, 2011)

Depositional pattern:

Additional Information

Compiler:

Wen Du - modified from Katsumi Ueno & Thasinee Charoentitrat, 2011, Chapter 5 Carboniferous and Permian in: Ridd, M.F., Barber, A.J., and Grow, M.J., editors, The Geology of Thailand, Geol. Soc. of London.; and Lexicon of Stratigraphic Names of Thailand of 2013.